sound firm.
“Okay,” I tried negotiating. “I told you I would go to the hospital if my Grams said I needed to. So let’s go see her and see what she thinks.” We didn’t have time for this. If Mister Bigshot Reporter didn’t start cooperating I was going to toss him over my shoulder and carry him out.
“Nice try,” Alec said. “Your Grams is in the hospital.”
“Celeste, we gotta go!” Kendall exclaimed urgently, her eyes frantically scanning the room.
“I know!” I shot back. “Alec, what does your Mom do?”
“She’s a beautician. Her name’s Marcie.”
“Oh-hey!” Kendall perked up, pointing to her new do. I glared in response. We didn’t have time for her “hey, small world” moment.
“Great,” I stated. “We’ll go see your Mom. If she thinks you need to go to the hospital, you go. Okay?” This made no sense. His mother was a good three hours away. I hoped his head injury had him foggy enough that he wouldn’t remember that.
“Okay,” He relented and unplanted his feet. With him cooperating we scurried for the exit practically dragging him. He noticed and slurred out, “What’s the rush?”
We ignored him and kept moving. The door was in sight. Our chance for escape only a few steps away. Then the theater went black.
“Whoa, did I just pass out?” Alec asked.
“No. The lights went out.” Every muscle in my body tensed. The darkness was no coincidence. It wasn’t a friendly janitor flipping a switch. It was a man with murder on his mind letting us know that the games were about to begin. “Kendall, get Alec outside. I’ll go see about those lights.”
“No way. You need me to help you turn the lights back on.” She adapted her argument for Alec’s sake.
“Get him out of here, then come help me find the switch.”
“You two are making an awfully big deal out of the lights. Aren’t we leaving anyway? Leave ’em off, conserve energy,” Alec garbled.
“No can do, Alec. But we’ll take care of everything, alright?” I reassured him.
“Whatever.” He murmured.
“He definitely needs a doctor. Stay with him, Keni. Come on, Gabe.” Fur brushed my leg as my lion body guard fell into step beside me. Together we strode back out onto the stage.
This time we didn’t have the aid of the footlights as we ventured across the lofty stage. Each step we took in the thick darkness was made with the utmost caution, on high alert for when Barnabus would strike. Without warning a blinding spotlight snapped on, pointed directly at me. I brought my arm up to shield my eyes and squinted to see past the offending light. Its brightness blinded me to anything beyond it.
From the shadows came a voice. “So you are the one. The little girl I have been searching for. My mentally-deficient minion was right, we did calculate your age wrong. No matter now though, is it? All that really matters is that I have you.”
His voice sounded shockingly ordinary for a three hundred-year-old villain. Not that my legs weren’t trembling in fear because believe me they were. I mustered up every ounce of courage I had to reply, “I knew you were a coward when you attacked my grandmother. But are you really so scared to face me that you have to hide?”
The theater boomed with the echo of his loud guffaw. With laughter still thick in his voice he answered, “Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ll show myself soon enough. I’m thrilled you have a feisty spirit though, it’ll make killing you much more enjoyable.”
“You’ll have to go through us first,” Kendall stated as she strode up beside me. Gabe took a step forward as well, his lip curling up in a threatening snarl.
Under my breath I whispered to Keni, “Did you get Alec to safety?”
“Yeah.”
“You two?” Barnabus chuckled. “You two are merely pawns not even worthy of my time.” In the blink of an eye Gabe and Kendall both went flying through the air in opposite directions. No one and nothing touched them. Yet it seemed an unseen force hooked them around their midsections and flung them across the room. They each disappeared behind the sides of the stage curtain. Two heavy thumps, followed by loud groans let me know that their unexpected rides ended painfully. I stood there alone, vulnerable and exposed. “But you, ah, you are the real power. The Conduit. The chosen one—bound to all that is good. Most importantly, you’re my key to unlimited power.”
The spotlight clicked off. He stood perched on